Look to the rock from which you were hewn Vol. 30, No. 3, Summer 2006 chicago jewish historical society chicago jewish history Sunday, September 17—Save the Date! Thrilling Chapters from Chicago’s Jewish Past: “Meyer Levin’s Compulsion Trial and Ben Hecht’s Zionist Pageants” The next open meeting of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society will feature a talk by our president, Walter Roth, marking the publication of the paperback edition of his book, Looking Backward— True Stories from Chicago’s Jewish Past. The meeting will be held on Sunday afternoon, September 17, in the chapel of Temple Sholom, 3480 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. The program will begin at 2:00 p.m. following a social hour with refreshments at 1:00 p.m. and a brief annual meeting with election of members to the Board of Directors. A book-signing will follow the program. Mr. Roth will speak on two fascinating chapters of his book: one concerns author Meyer Levin’s courtroom battle with Nathan Leopold over the publication of Compulsion, Levin’s fictionalized account of the Loeb and Leopold “crime of the century;” the other tells of screenwriter Ben Hecht’s transformation into an ardent Zionist and his subsequent authorship of two provocative pageants—We Will Never Die and A Flag is Born. Admission is free and open to the public. The Temple Sholom parking lot is south of the temple, on Stratford Street, facing the temple entrance. For information call the Society office at (312) 663-5634. O Sunday, October 29—Save the Date! Chicago Architecture Foundation & Chicago Jewish Historical Society Program: IN THIS ISSUE “Remembering North Lawndale” Dr. Irving Cutler will present a lecture entitled “Lawndale—Then and Albert Davis Lasker— Now,” on Sunday afternoon, October 29, in the John Buck Company “The Father of Modern Lecture Hall Gallery at the ArchiCenter, 224 South Michigan Avenue. The Advertising” program will begin at 2:00 p.m. following a social hour with refreshments at Report on CJHS June 4 1:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public, but reservations are Meeting: “The Jews required for this event. RSVP [email protected] or phone the Chicago of Marshall High” Architecture Foundation at (312) 922-3432 extension 224. continued on page 3 2 Chicago Jewish History Summer 2006 President’s Column Look to the rock from which you were hewn chicago jewish historical society A GERMAN-JEWISH DIALOGUE. My wife Chaya and I attended an evening Officers 2006 meeting on June 22 at the Selfhelp Home, 908 Walter Roth West Argyle Street, a retirement home originally President established on the South Side of Chicago in 1950 Burt Robin Vice President for Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. With the Dr. Carolyn Eastwood passage of over half a century, the Home today is Recording Secretary greatly expanded. Its current facility houses one Walter Roth hundred-fifty Jewish residents, many of whom Directors are neither refugees nor from Germany. Leah Axelrod We were invited to the meeting by Gerald Franks, a member of Harold T. Berc our Society who co-chaired the event. It was sponsored by the Charles B. Bernstein American Jewish Committee and the German Consulate General as Rachel Heimovics Braun* part of their ongoing series of German-Jewish dialogues. The Dr. Irving Cutler chairman of the meeting was Deputy Consul General Peter Primus. Herman Draznin The principal guests were seven German high school students, Dr. Rachelle Gold thirteen to seventeen years of age, and several of their teachers. Clare Greenberg They were introduced by David Sperling, who is associated with Dr. Adele Hast* Janet Iltis Northeastern Illinois University. He explained that the youngsters Marshall D. Krolick are visiting various cities in the United States to learn about Roslyn Lettvin American Jewry as part of a special project promoted by their home- Melynda Lopin town, Bünde, which is located in northwest Germany near Hanover. Mark Mandle Today Bünde has a population of about forty-five thousand, Dr. Edward H. Mazur none of whom are Jews. By November 1938, at the time of Seymour H. Persky Kristallnacht, many of the Jewish residents of Bünde had managed Muriel Robin Rogers* to escape from Germany; there were about two hundred-fifty Jews Norman D. Schwartz* remaining in the town. Only three of them survived the Holocaust. Dr. Milton Shulman The students from Bünde have taken oral history interviews Dr. N. Sue Weiler about their town’s Jews and have participated in a “weeping stones” *Indicates Past President project— inscribing stones, each with a murdered Jew’s name on it, Chicago Jewish History and displaying them in the town. One of the teachers and some of is published quarterly by the the students gave short talks about their perceptions of what had Chicago Jewish Historical Society occurred in Germany and what they had learned about Jewish life. at 618 South Michigan Avenue, It was a very moving experience, winding up with one student Chicago, Illinois 60605-1901. singing a beautiful lullaby in Yiddish. Phone (312) 663-5634. E-mail: The presentation was followed by a question and comment [email protected]. period, which was quite difficult. Some of the elderly members of Single copies $4.00 postpaid. the audience asked what the students had done to learn about their Successor to Society News. own families’ roles during the persecution of the Jews. Most answered that their grandparents and parents did not want to talk Editor-Designer about it at all, or claimed they knew nothing about what happened Bev Chubat to the Jews. Sharp retorts from some in the audience, who wanted Editorial Board the students to become more involved, brought tears to the eyes of Burt Robin, Walter Roth, Norman some of the youngsters. The boy who had sung the Yiddish lullaby, Schwartz, and Milton Shulman when pushed on the question about what he was doing with his Send all submissions to: family, answered: “I am learning how to convert to Judaism.” Editor, Chicago Jewish Historical This brought applause from the audience, and basically brought Society. 618 South Michigan Ave., an end to this immensely honest dialogue. I must add that the sharp Chicago, IL 60605-1901 or e-mail: continued on page 15 [email protected] Chicago Jewish History Summer 2006 3 North Lawndale continued from page 1 Dr. Cutler, a founding CJHS Board member and author of The Jews of Clare Greenberg Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb, will trace the history of Lawndale from its Honored as a earliest settlement to the present. Members of our Society, many of whom are former residents of North Lawndale, will reflect on living in the “Jewish neighborhood. As previously noted, please RSVP by phone or online to the Chicagoan of the Chicago Architecture Foundation, not to the CJHS office. O Year 2006” I CAF EXHIBITION September 20—November 18 “Learning from North Lawndale: Past, Present Future” Cost Free Location Atrium Gallery at the ArchiCenter 224 South Michigan Avenue I CAF BUS TOUR Sunday, October 15 1:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m. “Visiting North Lawndale with the Chicago Jewish Historical Society” Cost $40, $35 students; $30 for CAF and CJHS members Location The John Buck Company Lecture Hall Gallery at the ArchiCenter, 224 South Michigan Avenue RSVP (312) 922-3432 extension 224, or reserve online at www.architecture.org. Space is limited to 50 people. Clare (Chaikey) Greenberg. Led by Dr. Irving Cutler. The tour of “synagogue row” along Douglas and Photograph by Joe Kus Independence Boulevards includes three former Jewish institutions that are for Chicago Jewish News. on the 2006 Ten Most Endangered Historic Places list, as well as the former Jewish People’s Institute (JPI), which is on the National Register of Historic hicago Jewish Historical Places. Other places of interest include the William Le Baron Jenney- CSociety Board Member designed Douglas Park, two major ethnic-founded hospitals, the historic Clare (Chaikey) Greenberg Central Park Theater, the former Sears, Roebuck and Company headquar- has been named one of ten ters complex, the Marks Nathan Orphanage, schools and youth facilities, “Jewish Chicagoans of the and housing at Kedvale Square, Lawndale Manor, and along Millard Ave. Year 2006” by The Chicago I SELECTED CAF LUNCHTIME PROGRAMS Jewish News. Profiles of all Cost Free the honorees appear in the Location The John Buck Company Lecture Hall Gallery current CJN Guide. at the Archicenter, 224 South Michigan Avenue Chaikey personifies Jewish activism in her deep Wednesday, September 20 12:15 p.m.–1:00 p.m. devotion to the welfare of “The History of Sears, Roebuck & Company” the State of Israel through John Oharenko, author the Labor Zionist Move- Wednesday, September 27 12:15 p.m.–1:00 p.m. ment and her commitment “Route 66 in North Lawndale: A Journey through History” to the future of the Yiddish David G. Clark, highway historian and author of language and culture. Exploring Route 66 in Chicagoland Her professional career Wednesday, October 18 12:15 p.m.–1:00 p.m. as a librarian has benefited “The Transformation of Synagogues to Baptist Churches in Chicago” all seekers of information Suzanne Morgan, founder, The Center for Religious Architecture about Chicago, including our own CJHS researchers. Wednesday, November 15 12:15 p.m.–1:00 p.m. “Chicago in the Sixties: Remembering a Time of Change” continued on page 13 Neal Samors, author 4 Chicago Jewish History Summer 2006 Albert Davis Lasker “The Father of Modern Advertising” BY WALTER ROTH his is the story of an extraordinary person who and liberal politician. He was one of the first Jews was born in Germany as an American citizen, strong enough to openly attack anti-Semitism.